Sarah Heath
September 30, 2014
First Year Reading Assignment
Longwood Seminar is a very important class that every freshman at Longwood is
required to take and it encourages several valuable qualities that can and will be used by students
not only during their time at Longwood, but during the course of their life as well. Longwood
Seminar encourages several qualities, but three especially important qualities are personal
responsibility, self-sufficiency, and citizen leadership. These qualities are also strongly displayed
in the first year reading assignment, The Other Wes Moore, by Wes Moore. The stories told by
Wes Moore are incredibly influential and they relate closely to the life of a typical college
student.
First of all, personal responsibility is the notion that each person is answerable to his or
her own actions. Personal responsibility is one of the main qualities displayed in both the book,
The Other Wes Moore, and in the life of a college student. In one instance, Free Wes showed a
little bit of personal responsibility after he was caught doing graffiti with his friend. He realized
then that he did not want to lead a life that could end him up in jail so he took responsibility for
his actions and decided then and there that he was not going to get caught doing graffiti anymore.
However, he could have been more personally responsible with his school. Once he went to the
mostly white school, he slacked on his attendance a little at first and then stopped showing up
altogether. If he was more responsible with his attendance and realized the positive impact that
school has on a young boy’s life, then he would actually show up and put more effort into his
schoolwork.
In relation to Free Wes not attending his classes, it is necessary for college students to be
responsible with their attendance to classes because even if a student misses just one class, he or
she could be missing vital pieces of information. No one else is going to be held accountable for
Sarah Heath
September 30, 2014
that student disregarding classes so each student must be personally responsible and frequently
attend his or her classes.
Moreover, self-sufficiency is being independent and having the ability to meet his or her
own needs without requiring outside help. Self-sufficiency is another main quality that is
displayed in the first year reading assignment and laced throughout the life of a college student.
This is one of the more complicated concepts when first becoming a college student. Most
students, especially freshman, struggle with self-sufficiency at one point or another. For the
majority of students, it is their first time being away from parents for so long and students now
have to learn how to survive on their own. This situation is somewhat similar to both of the Wes
Moores in the first year reading assignment. Both of the boys in The Other Wes Moore had also
struggled with self-sufficiency throughout both of their lives. Growing up without a father
caused them to have to face being self-sufficient at an earlier age than expected. Free Wes had to
grow up and take care of himself while also trying to take care of his older sister and mother
while Prison Wes looked up to Tony as a role model and grew to be self-sufficient but to a
different extent.
Additionally, Free Wes had to learn how to be even more self-sufficient in military
school and Prison Wes was not given that opportunity. That was inevitably the deciding factor on
which Wes Moore would be the well-known author and which would be in jail. This quality of
self-sufficiency positively impacted Free Wes’s life because he knew what to do with his life
after he graduated from military school instead of being lost in the ghetto. In the first year
reading assignment, self-sufficiency is one of the traits that helped Free Wes in becoming the
role model that he is today instead of in jail with Prison Wes.
Sarah Heath
September 30, 2014
Furthermore, citizen leadership is when an individual has influence to make a difference
for their society. Citizen leadership is another quality that is instilled in both The Other Wes
Moore and Longwood Seminar yet also relates to the life of a college student. Free Wes is a
prime example in the book of a citizen leader. He has come from the worst of places with
horrible and scary stories to tell; however, he ended up graduating class president from the
military school and becoming a best-selling author. Wes Moore’s novel, The Other Wes Moore,
has the potential to change people’s lives, especially those who are in similar situations as his
own.
In addition, Prison Wes’s story could influence people in order to make a difference for
their society. Once reading his story, it could possibly teach children the perils of dealing drugs
and putting themselves in horrible positions with even worse friends. His story is influential in
the sense that he does not want children that are in similar situations as his own to have his same
outcome for their lives. Longwood University takes great pride in creating students to be citizen
leaders. The majority of the clubs and organizations on campus are strictly run by students to
instill the trait of citizen leadership. At Longwood, students are taught that those who are leaders
on campus and have that citizen leadership quality will benefit more down the road in their
careers.
In conclusion, personal responsibility, self-sufficiency, and citizen leadership are all
important qualities that are taught to all students enrolled in the Longwood Seminar class. These
qualities are also relevant in the first year reading, The Other Wes Moore. The book was an
impeccable first year reading assignment and an excellent read in general because the book,
along with the three qualities found in Longwood Seminar, strongly connect to the life of a
college student.